Remember when Hawker Beechcraft Corp.tried to include in a past bankruptcy restructuring plan $5.3 million in executive bonuses, including as much as $1.26 million for Chairman Bill Boisture? The plan to sell the company to Chinese firm Superior Aviation Beijing Co. Ltd. fell through, but even before then, a judge rejected the bonus plan, saying Hawker failed to prove that the plan was an incentive plan — which is allowed under bankruptcy law — and not simply an executive retention plan — which is not allowed.

The report says that the U.S. Justice Department has been raising more objections lately to bonus plans that appear aimed at retention, and judges are often rejecting the pay plans. One factor in the trend, one analyst says, could be heightened sensitivity to bankruptcy costs and to the differences between pay of executives and rank-and-file workers.

The latest case to watch, the Wall Street Journal says, is Hostess Brands Inc., where the government is challenging about $1.8 million in proposed bonuses to senior managers.

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